God Of Crafting

A perfidious, petrifying silence filled the stage.

To a degree, it was only to be expected, given how there were only a sum total of maybe fifteen people stuck within Leila's protective barrier designed to keep what happened inside from those who were on its outside.

But still, silence was the only means through which everyone commented on what happened.

"Ekhem… excuse me?" I managed to gather my wits after a few moments, relaxing my body as I stood back and lowered my hands, giving Jubley a slightly weirded-out look.

"Ah!" The man opened his eyes wide, as if only now coming to terms with what he did.

He was here to be my practice partner, a judge of just how strong my attack was.

More importantly, however, Jubley was a cultivator. One that reached levels that I couldn't even see through, implying he had long since ascended from the mortal realm to what awaited the cultivators beyond it.

And yet, when faced with nothing more than my raw punch, created out of purely my physical prowess and polished through five years of constant practice to near perfection…

He retreated.

"I…" Jubley opened his mouth, only to then drop his eyes and look down at his own hands, as confused as he was startled. "I'm really sorry, I don't know what took over me," he apologized, only to then shake his head and move up the distance he retreated before bowing down.

"My deepest apologies. It seems that I'm not qualified to take your punch, sir," he stated, his back arched at a ninety-degree angle as he kept his head deeply bowed. "If I may be as shameless as to suggest, I believe if it's one of my seniors…"

"That's enough," Leila finally stepped in, taking just a little bit longer than the others to overcome the silent shock stemming from what happened. "As far as I can tell, your instincts kicked in, forcing you to retreat. In other words," she shrugged her shoulders, "you were trained well enough for your body to know what attack it can take and brace through, and what would be too much for it to handle."

There was no anger, dissatisfaction, or annoyance in Claire's mother's voice. No, it was quite the opposite of it, as she added a small smile and etched her voice with a solid hint of praise.

"Knowing your limits isn't what I would ever talk someone down for," she added before dropping her hands down to her hips and gracing the cultivator with a nod of her head. "Good job, Jubley. You did enough. But now…"

Leila didn't even need to finish what she wanted to say.

"Of course, Senior Mistress," Jubley straightened his back, only to put his hands along his sides as he turned and then bowed deeply to Leila. And as he straightened his back again, he looked over in my direction. "I wish you success in your test!"

'Hmm?' I squinted my eyes just a little bit, not really sure what I was supposed to expect here. Before I could respond in any way or form, however, the man already left for the edge of the circle protected by Leila's barrier… only to then step right into the coiling winds and brave through them, removing himself from the already narrow number of people allowed to witness what was happening inside.

"Well, now that he's gone, let's move on," Leila wasted no time giving her instructions. And, although no one was called out personally, the next man in line stepped out, clasped his hands together as he bowed down to Leila, Claire, and then finally me.

"My name is Bollo, and I'm honored to be of service!" he cried out with his hands still cupped, only to then swing his arms open, instantly lowering himself down on his knees a bit while raising his fists to what could only be called a boxing guard.

"Thank you for your service," keeping my hands by my sides, I returned the bow before reaching the optimal distance from the man and then taking my time to properly get myself into the focused state of mind.

'Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be throwing quite a lot of punches today?' I asked myself, trying not to let this stray thought distract me too much.

Then, just like before, I cleared my mind, reinforced my stance while ensuring I had proper footing to support me, before slowly opening my eyes and locking them on the target ahead.

"I'm ready!" Bollo shouted out, first tensing his arms up only to then fully relax them, as if he planned to softly redirect my attack rather than just taking it.

'What means he uses to defend are not of your concern, man,' I thought, breathing out for the last time before taking in a fresh breath… and punching out.

I didn't need to think about how to twist my body, which muscles to tense, or what angle my fist should approach the center-most part of the target—Bollo's solar plexus.

Yet, despite all the grandstanding… my fist once again missed the mark.

It wasn't redirected to the side by some sort of swift movement of a martial artist or illusionary cultivation technique.

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'Huh?'

Shaking off my focus, I had no other choice but to notice that, just like Jubley before, Bollo opted out to retreat!

"That's…"

Rather than being angry, I was simply confused.

"Is my punch really that scary?" I asked as I relaxed my stance and raised my left hand to scratch the uncomfortable itch rooted behind the back of my ear.

"That's…" This was Bollo's turn to act all confused, only for his face to then cover with a blush as he realized and then came to terms with what he did.

"Oh!" Before the man could react, I suddenly struck the open palm of my left hand with my right fist, as if something suddenly clicked. I then turned over and looked at Leila, trying not to melt down at the sight of Claire desperately trying to hold herself back from laughing out loud. "Is this a provocation of some sort? A show of how I'm trying to shame the clan's practitioners or something? Because if that's the case, then…"

"No, it is not," contrary to her previous, rather relaxed stance, Leila now grew visibly anxious, if not outright upset. "Bollo, just like with Jubley before, I'm glad you mastered your fighting sense to know when you are not someone's opponent. For now, however, if you could…"

Just like before, she didn't even need to finish her sentence for the man to bow down, scream out "Yes, honorable mistress!" before moving off to the side and then walking straight into the raging winds of the barrier that protected the arena.

"To a degree, those two bouts already tell us quite a lot about your strength," Leila stated, shaking her head while supporting her forehead with her left hand. "But I can bet it's not enough for you, is it?"

I glanced over at Claire's mom only to then silently nod my head.

'I'm here to find the limits of my current strength, not to help you gauge it for yourself.'

"In that case, let's skip the queue and just move on to the last," Leila announced, only to turn her eyes away from me and towards the now slightly shorter row of the cultivators waiting their turn to be of service. "Mako! Come out!"

As opposed to the last two instances, it wasn't the cultivator at the front of the crowd to step out, but the one at its very back instead.

And, just like one could guess from the sound of the name, it wasn't some sort of burly, perfectly well-trained man… but just a feeble-looking woman, one sixty in height at the most, with a frame so petite she appeared to be at the risk of the slight winds of the day just blowing her away.

"Despite her looks, she's reached the peak of the cultivator stage, only lacking an impetus to break through into the next realm," Leila announced, either aware of how I felt about trying to punch a woman or simply noticing the doubt in my eyes.@@novelbin@@

Not affected by my reaction in the slightest, the woman walked up to the spot formerly occupied by Bollo and Jubley before him, only to stand at attention and then bow down in Leila's direction by gently lowering her head.

"Mistress," she called out as she bowed… only to then skip the rest of the crowd and just get into a position.

'So, not a bow for Claire or me, huh?' I thought, observing the silent exchange of nothing more than gestures or their lack.

I would have to be blind not to notice the look of disregard she didn't even try to hide in her eyes as she took on a fighting stance, softly bracing herself for the punch to come.

'Why do I feel like adding all of my cultivation to my next punch? And why is my fist suddenly so damn itchy?' I thought while forcing a pleasant smile on my face and, against what little I knew about the customs of this place, bowing down to greet my sparring partner.

"She's not the biggest fan of the ceremony, so just get it over with," Leila announced.

And so, I took a deep breath, emptying my mind out of all the spare thoughts as I emptied my lungs. I assumed my stance and closed my eyes, going through the whole process of gathering my focus again, not daring to skip on even the tiniest element of the process.

When I opened my eyes again, however, for the very first time, I couldn't see veven the slightest change to the woman's position or the look on her face.

'Who knows,' I suddenly thought, right as I fully emptied my lungs out in preparation for the breath that would carry my punch forth. 'Maybe her confidence isn't unfounded?' I thought…

Only to take a deep breath and then spring my body into action, throwing my punch out with all the weight that my body could produce!